During an event honoring Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) cautioned the audience that climate change would “destroy the planet” by the year 2031 if people fail to address a generational challenge she likened to “Word War II.”

“Millennials and people, you know, Gen Z and all these folks that will come after us are looking up and we’re like: ‘The world is gonna end in 12 years if we don’t address climate change and your biggest issue is how are we gonna pay for it?’” Ocasio-Cortez told interviewer Tanehisi Coates at an “MLK Now” event in New York.

I read the article. I know that's what she was probably referencing, but what's not helpful is "the world is gonna end". Once New Year's Day 2031 occurs, all the skeptics/deniers are "gonna" say, "We're still here. World didn't end. What a liar she was/is."

It's no different than the predictions (publicized by Al Gore, I believe) that said we were going to enter a new ice age by now. It hasn't happened, so there's this whole set of deniers/skeptics who cling to that and base their beliefs on that failed prediction.

During an event honoring Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) cautioned the audience that climate change would “destroy the planet” by the year 2031 if people fail to address a generational challenge she likened to “Word War II.”

“Millennials and people, you know, Gen Z and all these folks that will come after us are looking up and we’re like: ‘The world is gonna end in 12 years if we don’t address climate change and your biggest issue is how are we gonna pay for it?’” Ocasio-Cortez told interviewer Tanehisi Coates at an “MLK Now” event in New York.

I read the article. I know that's what she was probably referencing, but what's not helpful is "the world is gonna end". Once New Year's Day 2031 occurs, all the skeptics/deniers are "gonna" say, "We're still here. World didn't end. What a liar she was/is."

It's no different than the predictions (publicized by Al Gore, I believe) that said we were going to enter a new ice age by now. It hasn't happened, so there's this whole set of deniers/skeptics who cling to that and base their beliefs on that failed prediction.

AOC is using rhetoric that is a lot closer to being on the same level as the effort that is actually needed. I am beyond caring what the skeptics say about this issue. The skeptics all have their own motives for not wanting to admit drastic changes are needed, and their motives have nothing to do with climate science or bad predictions by Al Gore.

When you factor in the energy required to transport these containers back and forth, and also the energy required to make the sturdier containers in the first place (they said stainless steel would be used for ice cream?) I wonder if it will still be a good idea. It might be better to just use a recyclable or biodegradable container that takes less energy to make, and is only shipped once instead of a million times.

Human activities are behind the extinction crisis. Commercial agriculture, timber extraction, and infrastructure development are causing habitat loss and our reliance on fossil fuels is a major contributor to climate change.

Public corporations are responding to consumer demand and pressure from Wall Street. Professors Christopher Wright and Daniel Nyberg published Climate Change, Capitalism and Corporations last fall, arguing that businesses are locked in a cycle of exploiting the world's resources in ever more creative ways.

"Our book shows how large corporations are able to continue engaging in increasingly environmentally exploitative behaviour by obscuring the link between endless economic growth and worsening environmental destruction," they wrote.

'Dangerous' Antarctic glacier has a hole roughly two-thirds area of Manhattan, scientists warn

A large cavity has formed under what has been described as one of the world's most dangerous glaciers, and could contribute to a significant bump in global sea levels, said NASA scientists.

A study led by the agency revealed a cavity about two-thirds the area of Manhattan and roughly 1,000 feet tall is growing under Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica.

The cavity is large enough to have contained 14 billion tons of ice, most of which has melted within the last three years, say researchers.

"(The size of) a cavity under a glacier plays an important role in melting," said lead author Pietro Milillo of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in a statement. "As more heat and water get under the glacier, it melts faster."

Thwaites has been described as one of the world's most dangerous glaciers because its demise could lead to rapid changes in global sea levels. JPL said the glacier, about the size of Florida, holds enough ice to raise ocean levels another two feet if it completely melts. It also backstops other glaciers capable to raising sea levels another eight feet.

Been away for a while. Ran across a couple articles I wanted to share:

BBC News wrote:

Climate change: Warming threatens Himalayan glaciers

Climate change poses a growing threat to the glaciers found in the Hindu Kush and Himalayan mountain ranges, according to a new report. The study found that if CO2 emissions are not cut rapidly, two thirds of these giant ice fields could disappear. Even if the world limits the temperature rise to 1.5C this century, at least one third of the ice would go.

The glaciers are a critical water source for 250 million people living across eight different countries. The towering peaks of K2 and Mount Everest are part of the frozen Hindu Kush and Himalayan ranges that contain more ice that anywhere else on Earth, apart from the polar regions.

Massachusetts’ Republican governor, Charlie Baker, on Wednesday called on the federal government to take significant action to respond to the threat of climate change, marking a sharp contrast with his party’s orthodoxy on the issue.

Baker testified before the House Committee on Natural Resources, which held its first hearing on climate change since 2009, part of an effort by Democrats to bring the issue to the fore now that they control the House. “We understand the science and know the impacts are real because we are experiencing them firsthand,” Baker said.